Comedy Central Readies Court-Show Spoof With Doug Benson

Comedy Central is set to roll out a comedy series in which each episode is just 15 minutes in length.

In a nod to a rising generation of video fans who prefer to “snack” on short-form pieces of content with the use of a mobile screen, the Viacom humor network said it greenlit a series in which comedian Doug Benson lampoons syndicated court programs in a “strip” series consisting of 15-minute chunks. The show is expected to debut in early 2017, and may be considered for a late-night run, according to a person familiar with the situation, though no scheduling of the show has been decided upon as of yet.

In “The High Court,” central figure “Judge Doug”gets high and rules on real small claims court cases. The central conceit of the program, executive produced by Benson, Bruce Smith, JASH’s Daniel Kellison and Propagate’s Ben Silverman, Howard Owens and Kevin Healey, is loosely born from Benson and JASH’s popular YouTube show, “Getting Doug with High.”

In exchange for taking part in the series, both parties agree in advance to have the case settled in “The High Court” as Benson’s character hears both sides and then retires to his chambers with a guest bailiff to get stoned and then deliberate.

Gary Mann and Daniel Wolfberg are the executives in charge of production for Comedy Central. JASH and Propagate will co-produce the series.

Benson is a comedian, actor and marijuana advocate who hosts the podcasts, “Getting Doug with High” and “Doug Loves Movies.” He has been a regular guest on Comedy Central’s late-night series “@midnight,” and has appeared on the Comedy Central series “The Benson Interruption.”

Related stories

Comedy Central Renews 'This Is Not Happening' for Season 4

Comedy Central Orders 'Comedy Jam' Musical Mashup to Series

Broadway Review: 'Oh, Hello on Broadway'

Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter